Preview: 2010 Audi R8 Spyder 5.2 FSI quattro

The Audi R8 Spyder was launched in the midst of the Audi Fashion Festival 2010 held in Singapore. It is a car that is befitting of the event; for all of the fashionistas and for people who want to be seen, there is hardly a better car than the R8 Spyder for that very purpose.

Audi claims that the R8 Spyder can outrun a LP560-4 Spyder in the 0-200 km/h sprint (12.7 seconds), which if true is a very impressive thing indeed, as both cars are actually quite closely related and you would expect the Lamborghini to outperform the Audi in every way. Nonetheless, the engine in the R8 Spyder does come slightly detuned from the one in the LP560-4, pushing out 525hp and doing 0-100km/h in 4.1 seconds.

During the launch, the Senior Designer for the R8’s exterior, Frank Lamberty, explained how his team designed the car. I got to speak to him about the R8 and R8 Spyder, and I asked him about the absence of the side blade that made the R8 so distinct. There is an absence of the side blade when compared to the coupe as it would have made the lines of the car very complicated with several colour combinations afforded to the consumer – from the body colour to the colour of the fabric roof to the interior. The addition of the side blade would have made the look of the car too busy; hence its removal.

I would agree with him as the car looks extremely polished and clean with just the fabric roof now, and nothing to disrupt the lines of the car. It also explains why the fabric roof is one of the longest (if not the longest) in the market as it stretches all the way to the haunches of the rear wheels to replace the side blade.

I also asked him why the R8 Spyder V10 was launched before the V8 version, as opposed to launching the V8 first when the coupe came out. He explained that the demand for the V10 version is overwhelming for the coupe; so much so that it convinced them to release the V10 version first to meet the demand of the consumers. Fans of the V8 need not fret though as the V8 version will make its local debut in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Just to give non-Singaporean readers of Autosavant a perspective on the inflated prices of cars in Singapore: the R8 V10 Spyder will be priced at S$695,000 (US$507,600) and the R8 V8 Spyder will be priced at an indicative S$561,000 (US$409,700).

The only writer to be based in Asia, James provides a refreshingly different perspective to the automotive industry with his unique experience of living in the Far East. He is a prolific journalist who has written for several leading automotive publications in Singapore, including Torque Singapore and REV Magazine Singapore. He believes in the thrill of driving and champions for an appreciation of driving pleasure above the horsepower race. In September 2010, James relocated to the United Kingdom, London, bringing him to a whole new environment from which to start a new chapter in automotive journalism.